Two sailors remain in hospital after Stennis jet fire

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis is shown at sea in the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 14, 2009. A F/A-18C Hornet jet fighter's engine exploded and caught fire Wednesday March 30, 2011 as it prepared to take off from the aircraft carrier off California, injuri

/ AP

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis is shown at sea in the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 14, 2009. A F/A-18C Hornet jet fighter's engine exploded and caught fire Wednesday March 30, 2011 as it prepared to take off from the aircraft carrier off California, injuring 10 sailors, the military said. (AP Photo/ (US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Kenneth Abbate)

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis is shown at sea in the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 14, 2009. A F/A-18C Hornet jet fighter's engine exploded and caught fire Wednesday March 30, 2011 as it prepared to take off from the aircraft carrier off California, injuring 10 sailors, the military said. (AP Photo/ (US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Kenneth Abbate) (/ AP)

Two sailors remained hospitalized on Thursday after a F/A-18C Hornet jet engine caught fire while waiting to be launched from the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis Wednesday. Eleven people had been injured in the mishap.

Navy officials said the right engine of the jet suffered a catastrophic failure and exploded, severing fuel and hydraulic lines on the plane and sparking a fire with lots of billowing smoke, Capt. Ronald Reis, the commanding officer of the Stennis, told reporters in a call from the ship Thursday.

The Stennis was about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego when the mishap occurred around 2:50 p.m. Wednesday, just seconds before the jet was to be launched. Four injured sailors were flown to San Diego Naval Medical Center. Two have been treated and released and a third is expected to be released in the next day or two, Reis said.

Seven others were hurt, including four sailors, one Marine and two civilian contractors, receiving injuries such as minor burns and twisted ankles, Reis said. The single-seat jet is assigned to VMFAT-101, a Marine training squadron at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

Reis said he worried the fire could spread to other aircraft on the flight deck, but that sailors quickly extinguished the blaze and pulled the pilot out of the damaged jet. He said he grabbed a microphone and put out a message to his crew: “fight the fire, fight the fire.”

“As the smoke is billowing and the fire was going I was also making calls to move those (nearby) aircraft,” he said.

The two sailors that were most seriously injured were working near two EA-6 Prowlers that were waiting to take off after the Hornet. One of the sailors had a fractured leg and the other had a puncture wound to his chest “from part of the engine as it fell apart,” Reis said.

The investigation into the crash likely will take three to six months. Reis said it is believe the engine failure was caused by “internal FOD” or foreign object debris, as opposed to being caused by foreign material being sucked into the engine’s intake.

He said it was not yet known if the jet was a total loss. The damage is estimated at more than $1 million.